The Pokemon Company has finally made an official statement regarding Palworld, saying, “We intend to investigate and take appropriate measures to address any acts that infringe on intellectual property rights related to the Pokémon.”
While The Pokemon Company doesn’t specifically mention Palworld by name, it is very clear this statement is in response to the incredible success the survival game is experiencing (8 million copies sold in less than six days!) and the claims that many of Palworld’s Pals are way too close to existing Pokemon.
“We have received many inquiries regarding another company’s game released in January 2024,” The Pokemon Company wrote. “We have not granted any permission for the use of Pokémon intellectual property or assets in that game. We intend to investigate and take appropriate measures to address any acts that infringe on intellectual property rights related to the Pokémon. We will continue to cherish and nurture each and every Pokémon and its world, and work to bring the world together through Pokémon in the future.”
Prior to this statement, Palworld developer Pocketpair has insisted its game is much closer to games like Ark Survival Evolved and Vanaheim than Pokemon. Additionally, the team revealed they have been receiving death threats ever since the game went live on January 19.
In an interview with Automaton, Pocketpair CEO Takuro Mizobe shared the team cleared legal reviewing and there had been no action taken against the company for infringement.
“We make our games very seriously, and we have absolutely no intention of infringing upon the intellectual property of other companies,” Mizobe said.
The Pokemon Company has already started taking action against modders who have replaced Palworld’s Pals with Pokemon, and Nexus Mods has even said it won’t host Pokemon mods for Palworld out of fear from Nintendo’s legal team.
All of these issues aside, Palworld is undeniably a runaway hit and we here at IGN called it “Great” in its current state.
“Even in its Early Access state, Palworld is amusingly irreverent, has a surprising amount of content and deep survival mechanics, and is absurdly difficult to put down,” IGN’s Travis Northup wrote in his Palworld review. “It’s impossible to overlook just how shamelessly it takes ideas and designs from Pokémon, it’s got some unsurprising bugs and performance issues, and the work of keeping your base’s supplies topped off needs a little retuning – but when you’re riding on the back of a flying dragon while shooting a blue duck with an assault rifle, most of those blemishes wash away entirely.
“This is already one of my favorite survival games, and I’m incredibly excited to see how it evolves.”
For more, check out our in-depth look as to whether it is fair to call Palworld a Pokemon rip-off and the roadmap for Palworld in future updates alongside PvP, raid bosses, and new islands.
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Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.
